


A Mockingbird‘s Song

by Imshookandbi



Series: The Tales of a Mockingbird [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Author is bad at tagging, Concern, Concerned Bruce Wayne, Found Family, Good Dad Batman, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Snippets from the Discord, WE STAN A GOOD DAD BRUCE WAYNE IN THIS HOUSE, ambiguous ending, bittersweetness, concerned dick grayson, is this hurt/comfort??? Mayhaps???, its mostly hurt tbh, mentions of injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:48:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24711079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imshookandbi/pseuds/Imshookandbi
Summary: Everything is going to be okay.Or, Marinette is finally finding family.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Bruce Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Dick Grayson
Series: The Tales of a Mockingbird [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1786213
Comments: 9
Kudos: 460





	A Mockingbird‘s Song

Marinette was hyperaware that she was clutching the back of Bruce’s suit jacket like a child, a very _nervous_ child who was meeting their distant cousins for the first time and didn’t know what to think. 

  
  
However, she couldn’t bring herself to feel embarrassed. The feeling of the soft material grounded her in a way that other stress toys couldn’t. She could already think what exactly it was made out of, how easy it is to work with, what would look best with it, and so on.

“Marinette,” Bruce’s voice snaps her back into awareness and she looks up to see him staring down at her. “Are you ready to go in?” 

Marinette hums distractedly, turning her head to face the large, omnipresent doors ahead of them. It feels like a death sentence; heavy, inescapable. 

She breathes in deeply and ignores the stab of pain in her side— there was another akuma attack yesterday (aptly named Street Rat) and they’d done a _lot_ of damage, so much in fact, that the Miracle Cure didn’t have enough energy to heal them both completely of their injuries. Her ribs were bruised, her left leg hurt, and there was a cut under her right eye that she knew would scar that was currently wrapped under a cotton pad. That wasn’t even including her still badly bruised arm, which was healing at a snail’s pace.   
  


_’I must be a sight,’_ She thinks dryly, when she returned to the flat, Bruce was still waiting for her and he took one look at her injuries and sat her down to wrap them, no questions asked. She wasn’t going to admit it, but the concern was nice, if foreign.   
  


“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Marinette breathes, turning her eyes back to Bruce, who nods and begins walking towards the door, Marinette in tow.

* * *

“B, I know for _certain_ that there was more than one pair of footsteps, I swear to god if you went to Paris and adopted another kid I will- Marinette?” 

  
Marinette flinches at the use of her name and presses against Bruce’s side, her face heating up at the childish action. She was _sixteen_ , there was _no_ reason she should be acting this way, she’s _never_ been this way. 

  
“Hello,” She says quietly, successfully betraying herself as she peaks around Bruce and comes face-to-face with Dick Grayson, the tour guide she met during her trip to Gotham. 

  
She can instantly tell the moment he notices her wrapped arm and the cotton pad under her eye, his eyes zero in on them both and they narrow dangerously.   
“Bruce,” Dick says calmly, his eyes flick towards the aforementioned man, but his tone is chilled and Marinette can feel a spike of fear run through her. “Do you know who did this.”

  
Marinette’s eyes widen, “Wait! Wait— it wasn’t- it’s not what you think.” She says loudly, immediately curling in on herself when Dick turns his gaze back on her. “Um— I’m...”

  
She shares a worried glance with Bruce, who for the most part was blank, then something softens and Bruce exhales slowly, his hand running through his hair. “Marinette is the superheroine Ladybird in Paris, she also is Mockingbird.” He says— announces. 

  
Dick’s eyes widen and his jaw drops, “Wh—“ He glances at Bruce and then back to Marinette, _”Mockingbird?”_ He whispers. 

  
Marinette nods, she can already tell who he is- his voice was all too familiar, as was his build. 

  
“Hi, Nightwing.” She says quietly, training her eyes to the floor.

“How— Bruce, you said she was a _superheroine_ in _Paris?_ That— and she’s also _Mockingbird_ in _Gotham?”_ Dick looks between the two, looking utterly lost and pale. “That’s— that’s two identities, not even including your civilian life. How— how do you have the _time?”_ He breathes, sounding horrified.

  
Marinette gives a little grin, it was weak, and tired, and likely conveyed the exhaustion that’s laid its claim in her bones since she was ten. “That’s the thing, flippy,” She says, using the nickname she has for him as Mockingbird to lighten the mood. “I didn’t.” 

  
Her smile quickly falters, “And I don’t have three identities,” She says softly, ignoring the sharp look Bruce sends her. “I have four. Me, Ladybird, Mockingbird, and MDC.” 

  
Dick looked vaguely sick, Bruce was almost the same. 

  
Marinette’s brow furrows, biting her bottom lip in consideration. “Five if you count me being the Guardian, but—“ She grimaces, “I don’t like to think about it.”

  
 _”Five._ ” Dick breathes. “Five. Identities.” He was whiter than a sheet and Marinette worries that he was five steps from passing out, Bruce wasn’t much better, but he was better at hiding it. There was a hardness in his eyes though, that gave away his thoughts on the situation.

  
Marinette merely grins, but it was obvious that it was false.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [What Comes Next](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28487040) by [jumpingjoy82](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpingjoy82/pseuds/jumpingjoy82)




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